Tarek El Moussa Reveals Most Exciting Addition to Season 2 of Solo HGTV Show — and It's a Person

The new season of Flipping 101 premieres this Thursday, and according to Tarek El Moussa, it will be full of special moments.

The HGTV star's solo show, in which he teaches novice home flippers how to turn a profit in the high stakes L.A. real estate market, will also give fans a peek into his personal life. The last year has been filled with major life events for the host as he plans his wedding with fiancée, Selling Sunset's Heather Rae Young, renovates a new house in Newport Beach into their dream home, and navigates coparenting daughter Taylor, 10, and son Brayden, 6, with his ex wife and Flip or Flop costar, Christina Haack.

"Season 2 is super fun, super exciting. I would say my favorite part about Season 2 is that we got to incorporate Heather a lot more into the show, so she's more involved with me and some of the rookie flippers," El Moussa tells PEOPLE.

"And on top of her being more involved with the show, during Season 2 we actually follow the process and the transformation of our own personal house, and all the challenges that we went through," he continues, "including the house flooding halfway through construction."

El Moussa and Young purchased their first house together last September, and revealed in November that the home had flooded, leading to significant damage, as well as added renovation costs and time.

The couple, who got engaged last July were finally able to move into the property in May 2021 — after bouncing between hotels and rentals — along with his two kids, who El Moussa and Haack share custody of.

"Our house is looking fantastic, and the last thing we're working on is our rooftop deck with the gorgeous ocean view," El Moussa says of the unique space, which they gutted in order to add a fire pit, hot tub, covered patio and more. "That should be done in about four to six weeks, so we are almost there."

Just like his personal home overhaul, the flips he encounters on the show rarely go exactly to plan, which is part of what makes Flipping 101 so entertaining, he says.

"When it comes to house flipping, everything's about the bottom line, and everything's about speed and moving fast. And I can't tell you how many mistakes were made by people not listening to me, not hiring proper workers, not getting the proper permit," El Moussa says of the new season.

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"One couple, they started to work without permits, and they didn't think they were going to get caught. I told them they were going to get caught, and then they did get caught, and then they still kept doing the work, and then they got shut down again," he recalls. "It's a very interesting season. There were definitely a couple of moments where I was like, 'Man, they're not going to make it. We've got to just cancel.' But in the end, everybody worked hard."

In order to go in depth on both the home projects and El Moussa's personal life, Season 2 episodes will also be an hour long, rather than the regular half-hour, which he's also excited about.

"I feel like before, it was just a little bit too fast," he says. "So now people really get to see the follow-up projects, and also the struggles of being a rookie flipper."

El Moussa can't deny that between all the planning, filming and working, the last year has been full of pressure — but it has all been worth it, he says.

"It has been a very, very stressful year," he admits. "But I'm happy about everything."

Season 2 of Flipping 101 premieres Thursday, September 16, at 9 ET/PT on HGTV, and will be available to stream the same day on discovery+